When it comes to the three Rs of education – readin', ritin' and rithmatic – the most third through eighth-grade students in the Santa Cruz Valley Unified School District No. 35 are meeting and exceeding state standards.

“The test scores tell us we are dong a good job,” said Assistant Superintendent Rodney Rich of the overall test results released last week. The Arizona Instrument to Measure Standards (AIMS) tracks the progress of students in third grade through eight grade as well as tenth graders in the areas of mathematics, writing and reading. English learners and special education students are included in the testing results.

Since 2001 the tests have been given annually. Students are not given grades on the test but are judged as to whether they meet the state passing score standard, fall below the mark, approach the mark or exceed the standard, said Rich.

“We watch how we compare to the state and the rest of the county but our real issue is (whether the district is) moving forward with more students meeting the mark,” said Rich. “The answer is we definitely are.”

SCVUSD

At SCVUSD students in fifth-, seventh- and eighth-grade reading; fifth-grade writing; and seventh- and eighth-grade mathematics testing had their highest scores ever on the AIMS test with more than 70 percent of the students meeting of exceeding the standard, Rich said.

In reading, the seventh graders recorded the highest number of passing scores while the district's eighth graders were the most proficient in writing with 83 percent meeting the mark set by the state.

In mathematics, seventh graders outscored the other grades with 76 percent of the students passing the test.

Although the younger students in the district appear to be making progress on reaching the state's mandated goal, students in the district's tenth grade fell behind last year's scores.

In the writing segment of the test 63 percent of the students reached the mark compared to 70 percent in 2008. In reading, tenth graders were down from 74 percent passing in 2008 to 67 percent passing in 2009. They dropped from 70 percent passing to 69 percent passing in the mathematics area of the testing.

Rich said that he believes the annual AIMS test helps the district to identify its weaknesses. When reading was identified as a problem area five years ago, for example, the district purchased a core curriculum program for teachers to follow in the classroom, he explained. Within two years the students were scoring better than the state. This year all of the grade levels had 60 percent or more of the students passing the reading test.

“AIMS has been a good thing because it has made the schools tighten up and set standards for teaching,” said Rich. “We can focus on what it is our children need to learn to be successful on the test to meet and exceed the state standards.”

According to the AIMS guidelines, districts are required to show an increasing number of students each year who meet the state requirements and pass the tests. Failure to show those positive numbers could result in a district losing portions of their Title I funding, Rich said.

In the future

By 2014 all of the students in the school district must be able to meet the state's requirements and pass the AIMS test.

Although Rich believes that the goals have validity he worries that meeting them may not be easy for districts like SCVUSC and the Nogales school district where about 95 percent of the kindergartners who start school each year do not speak English.

He said he is hoping that the rules will be modified by 2014 so that districts are not punished because of their demographics.

This week, the Arizona Department of Education will announce whether the school districts are meeting the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). The AYP designation is based on the AIMS scores and tells districts if they are advancing toward the goals set by the federal No Child Left Behind Act, said Rich.

Last year, two of the SCVUSD schools did not meet the AYP standard. Rich said he is confident that every school in the district will be rated “performing plus” this year.

“Our students are as smart as, as talented as, as funny as any,” said Rich. “When our kids get AIMS scores that are below the standard we are failing them. We want to see them succeed.”